Dufeu IT News

Unified Communications With VoIP Telephony

As most of you probably know by now, BT will be switching off their existing PSTN and ISDN network by 2025 and will be migrating everyone to IP moving forward.

Maybe you’re already considering the switch and would like to know what options are available? What’s great about this change is that it’s an open market out there, with a number of businesses that offer Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services and work with different providers other than BT.

So, what is VoIP and why would you consider switching to VoIP before 2025?

VoIP is a phone service over the internet, so firstly you should consider how reliable is your broadband. Are you running with ADSL, Fibre or do you have a Leased Line, a VoIP phone system can run on either of these, but the quality of the call will be dictated by the speed of your broadband. If you have an office with over 10 employees and high internet usage, you may want to consider a new broadband line just for the phone system to sit on, this way, you will avoid any disruption during calls.

Unified communications made easy

There are many benefits VoIP can offer, including the cost saving aspect. For example, some providers can give you unlimited lines for as little as £10.99 per month. Then there are the VoIP software developers which can allow you to take your extension anywhere in the world by simply downloading a free smartphone app, allowing you to make / take free internal calls from anywhere. There are some VoIP providers that will charge extra for this feature so please keep that in mind.

Minimise hardware cost

Since a VoIP phone system is software based, you can have the option of using a headset with a “softphone” which is a phone application that sits on your desktop, allowing you to receive calls, transfer calls and even send private messages. What’s great about using a softphone is you can also see the presence of your colleagues, if they are available to take a call, engaged on a call or unavailable. The software also allows you to be lot more flexible, making it easier to work from home with a laptop, Mac or PC.

Voice Recording is another great feature which comes standard with some providers, allowing you to store 10GB worth of recordings in the cloud as standard. This is great for those times where you need to trace back to a conversation with someone.

One license for multiple sites, some VoIP software works on a simultaneous call basis, which means you would only require one license, even if you have multiple sites across the country. This would allow for free internal calls site to site, giving you unified communication.

Are you going to wait until 2025?

The clock is ticking, but are you limiting your business operations by waiting this long? If you would like to review the option of a VoIP phone system, please contact us today at 01933 426162 or email us at info@dufeu-it.co.uk.